


Regarding Josh

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Challenge Response, Character Study, Episode Tag, Episode: s01e22 What Kind of Day Has It Been
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-07-09
Updated: 2000-07-09
Packaged: 2019-05-15 20:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14797010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: In the aftermath of the shooting, there's something about Josh.





	Regarding Josh

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

REGARDING JOSH

by gaggit

legalspeak, legalspeak,....not my characters.....yadda, yadda, yadda.....property of

Aaron

Sorkin.....blah, blah, blah.....NBC...........more legalspeak.......no profit for

me.......blah, blah, yadda, yadda....lawyer’s name is Virgil. 

In the aftermath of the shooting, there’s something about Josh. 

The pop of the ball off of Toby’s racket told Josh that the ball would come back across the net down the middle of the court and land at his feet.  He took a step back and wrapped both hands around his racket and prepared to hit a screaming backhand down the line.  Swinging the racket way back, he watched as Toby slid to his left in anticipation of the shot; but just before the racket impacted the ball, Josh tipped the racket up slightly and stopped the forward momentum.  The ball gently arched over the net and cleared it by a mere six inches.  Toby stood flat-footed and watched the neon-yellow ball dribble off the court.

"How in the hell did you do that?"  Toby implored.

"It’s the perfect politician’s shot," replied  Josh.

"What?" asked Toby raising an eyebrow.

"It’s the art of selling something you have no intention of delivering," explained Josh.

Toby waited for Josh to throw his arms up and dance a celebratory jig in reaction to winning.  Instead, he walked up to the net, simply shook Toby’s hand, and thanked him for a good match.  Watching Josh as he walked to the locker room, Toby asked himself,

"Who is that guy?"  With a jolt, Toby realized that Josh’s distinctive strut had disappeared along with the mischievous sparkle that had once inhabited his friend’s eyes. 

 

"Excuse me, Donna?"

"Yes?"

"Could you find the file on English as the national language for me?"

"Sure, Josh.  It will take me a half hour or so."

"Okay, no problem.  As soon as you have time."

Sitting very still at her desk and watching Josh retreat to his office, Donna thought back to the night of the shooting.  Josh and Charlie had arrived back at the West Wing a good two hours after the President and Zoe.  Josh was the sole member of the senior staff who had come through the ordeal physically unscathed.  They found out later that Josh had been behind everyone else when the shooting began, and he had seen Leo go down in the hail of bullets.  Defying the secret service detail and common sense, he had run to Leo’s side and tried to staunch the blood oozing from his chest.  When Leo had been loaded into an ambulance, Josh and Charlie made sure the rest of the senior staff had been taken care of and began administering to the injured bystanders until the secret service detail corralled them and sent them back to the White House.  Donna could still feel the hard hug Josh had given her when he came through the bull pen door, and she kept the sensation close to her because it had been the last time he had touched her.

 Disengaging himself from her arms, he had run a trembling hand down the front of the light blue shirt that was stained with the blood of the people who had become his only family after his father’s death and asked her if he had another one around somewhere.

She had brought him a clean shirt and held on to the bloody one while he changed.  Then he had taken that blood stained shirt, folded it neatly, and carried it into his office with him; it was still there next to the television.  But what really bothered her was that he had buttoned the cuffs of the clean shirt instead of rolling them up to his elbows before walking into the Oval Office and simply going back to work.  He had been working nearly nonstop for two months now, even though CJ, Toby, and Sam had all been back in the office for three weeks.  Donna set food in front of him which he ate but didn’t taste, and Leo’s driver took him home, or he slept in a room in the residence if Abigail Bartlet found him working late.   Donna knew that Sam, Toby, and CJ spent as many evenings as they could with him, but she avoided that.  She didn’t feel disloyal to him because that automaton in Josh’s clothes was not him. The true essence of Josh was gone, and she would sell her soul if he would just bellow her name, put his hand on the small of her back, and tease her as they walked the halls.

 

****


End file.
